As soon as Xiong Dapao arrived, Chen Meilan made an excuse to leave.
Regarding her failed blind date with Xiong Dapao, Chen Meilan had already explained it to him so he would help with 271's business recruitment.
She had later helped Xiong Dapao secure investment from the paint factory.
Though Xiong Dapao never said anything about it, he went all out to help Chen Meilan secure East Fashion's business. At the business recruitment conference, he couldn't stop toasting everyone, drinking three jin of baijiu before Chen Meilan forcibly took him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped.
According to the doctor, if they had arrived any later, the alcohol would have perforated his stomach.
In his hospital bed, emboldened by the alcohol, Xiong Dapao pointed at Chen Meilan's nose and asked if he wasn't loyal enough, if he wasn't man enough, if he wasn't excellent enough.
If Yan Zhao hadn't been there at the time, Xiong Dapao probably would have said even more in his drunken state.
He wasn't just a real man - for 271, he was practically their savior.
The next day, Chen Meilan sent a group of veterans to escort Xiong Dapao to 271, where, led by Xue Mingfang, everyone saluted him, presented flowers, and sang songs - giving him an embarrassingly enthusiastic but touching thank you celebration.
Then, everyone agreed that for each quarter's new product launch, Xiong Dapao would help 271 with sales first.
Because of this, Chen Meilan felt deeply grateful to Xiong Dapao in her heart, knowing that without him, 271 wouldn't be where it is today.
Of course, they were all adults, and recently, Xiong Dapao had tactfully mentioned that he had met someone he could marry and was preparing for remarriage.
The young man was excellent and handsome; he couldn't possibly have any intentions toward Chen Meilan, a mother of three. But it was still proper to maintain appropriate boundaries. Whenever it wasn't about work, Chen Meilan deliberately avoided meeting Xiong Dapao.
So before Xiong Dapao got out of the car, Chen Meilan had already wandered over to Teacher Huang's house.
Since Chen Meilan had started focusing on 271 last year, the Xingda Construction Team had only been taking on small, scattered jobs and hadn't gotten any major projects. A small construction team could more than adequately support Chen Degong's family and Yan Bin, but they could barely afford an intellectual like Teacher Huang.
Today, Chen Meilan planned to discuss his future work arrangements with Teacher Huang.
Teacher Huang had been worried about his future lately. The Xingda Construction Team paid him 500 yuan monthly, but with no major projects, he felt uneasy about taking the salary. Since his unpaid leave period was also coming to an end, Teacher Huang was considering returning to teaching at school, where faculty salaries had increased and the basic monthly salary of 180 yuan would be enough to get by.
However, as soon as Teacher Huang brought this up, Chen Meilan rejected the idea.
She said, "Teacher Huang, you can't go back to school. From now on, you need to work at 271 to develop a 'Performance Evaluation System,' a 'Contract Responsibility System,' and a 'Corporate Management System.' These projects will keep you busy for at least a year, and you'll need to travel to Hong Kong for at least two months."
Teacher Huang was taken aback: "Performance evaluation, contract responsibility, and corporate management systems are typically needed by companies with thousands of employees. Your 271 only has two hundred people - I'm afraid these might be unnecessary?"
Moreover, to develop such systems, Teacher Huang would need to travel, study, and buy various reference materials. The total cost would be at least ten thousand yuan.
That was a significant amount of money.
But before Teacher Huang could fully express his concerns, Chen Meilan interrupted him: "I really need these systems. Besides your salary from 271, I'll personally give you an extra ten thousand yuan. I want you to focus entirely on developing these systematic solutions for me."
Third Sister-in-law Huang was watching Little Mancang play in the courtyard and couldn't understand the professional terms Chen Meilan and Teacher Huang were discussing. She smiled and asked, "Meilan, will these things Teacher Huang is doing make money for you?"
Chen Meilan answered definitively: "Yes."
Third Sister-in-law Huang then said, "Since you're paying him such a high salary, don't hesitate to work him hard."
Regular teachers only earned 200 yuan monthly, while Teacher Huang had a stable income of 500 yuan, and now Chen Meilan was personally offering an additional ten thousand yuan.
Third Sister-in-law Huang had never seen such a good deal and thought he should work as hard as possible; otherwise, Huang Zhengde wouldn't deserve such high wages from Chen Meilan.
While the adults were chatting, Yuanyuan came in holding a mobile phone and pressed it against her little brother's ear: "Brother, listen, isn't it fun?"
She had called Ningning, who was speaking on the other end.
Little Lang followed closely behind, also wanting to listen. Chen Meilan caught him and pointed at his nose, asking, "Did you see Uncle Dapao earlier?"
"Yes, he went to talk with Dad!" Little Lang said.
Chen Meilan pinched his chubby cheeks and said, "Uncle Dapao got facial paralysis for six whole months because of this thing, needing dozens of acupuncture needles in his face every day to recover. When you play with it, make sure to keep it far from your face, understand?"
Little Lang took the phone and held it a foot away, asking Chen Meilan, "Mama, is this okay?"
"Yes. Also, this thing is very expensive - it cost Mama a lot of money. You can play with it, but you must be careful. If it breaks, Mama's money will be gone," Chen Meilan added.
Little Wang came running in, hearing Ningning still saying "hello" on the phone, and wanted to grab it too.
But to Little Lang, this was Mama's money, so he wouldn't even let Yuanyuan have it anymore.
He held onto the mobile phone for Chen Meilan, refusing to let go.
Third Sister-in-law Huang remembered something else: "By the way, Meilan, our Yuanyuan is quite a little celebrity now. Haven't you helped her get any new movie or TV roles?"
Since September last year, "Return to the City" had been broadcast on Central TV, achieving unprecedented influence - almost everyone in the country had watched it, and several of its songs had become hits throughout the streets.
Yuanyuan and Ningning had become overnight stars, household names, and naturally, there were many film offers. Production companies from Beijing, Shanghai, and even Hong Kong had been calling through Zhou Yu, wanting Yuanyuan to act in their films and TV shows.
However, because these locations were too far from home, Chen Meilan worried about disrupting Yuanyuan's education and had turned them all down.
Recently, there were two films from Xi'an Film Studio - "Hoping My Son Becomes a Dragon" and "Father and Son Open a Karaoke Bar" - that wanted to cast Yuanyuan, and Chen Meilan was quite interested. She had been waiting for calls from these production teams.
Her attitude toward Yuanyuan's acting was to take things as they came, without forcing anything.
But if good opportunities arose, like "Father and Son Open a Karaoke Bar" - the kind that could become famous across the country - and if Yuanyuan was willing, Chen Meilan planned to let her do it.
"If something suitable comes along, we'll take it. There's no rush; we can wait for good opportunities," Chen Meilan said, thinking about this.
Third Sister-in-law Huang gestured toward Qin Yu's house and said in a low voice, "I heard Ningning has already taken several roles. Our Yuanyuan acts better than Ningning and is more likable on TV. Since she can be famous, why not let the child pursue it?"
Since "Return to the City" had aired, people inevitably compared Ningning and Yuanyuan within their small community.
Because Yuanyuan's character was more likable, neighbors often said Yuanyuan acted better than Ningning.
Firstly, Qin Yu had become wealthy from running a music school, and secondly, constantly hearing neighbors praise Yuanyuan's acting made her angry, so she bought a house in the city and simply moved away.
Chen Meilan found such comparisons particularly pointless and disliked people discussing the two children this way during conversations. She said to Third Sister-in-law Huang, "Sister-in-law, it's just a TV show, we shouldn't make these comparisons. Haven't you noticed? It's exactly because of people making such comments in private that Qin Yu got angry enough to move away."
"That's because she's thin-skinned. When you put your child on TV, you should expect people to talk about it. She should have been prepared for this when she first sent Ningning to become an actress," Third Sister-in-law Huang said.
Chen Meilan replied, "If strangers say such things, you might not hear it and can ignore it, but when people you know talk like this, I'd be upset too if I were her."
Realizing Chen Meilan was unhappy, Third Sister-in-law Huang quickly said, "Alright, alright, I won't mention it again, okay?"
In fact, once someone appears on TV and becomes a public figure, they should be mentally prepared to accept criticism and comments from everyone. However, just as Qin Yu couldn't calmly listen to neighbors comparing her children, Chen Meilan couldn't either.
For this very reason, there were many roles offered to Yuanyuan, but whenever she read the scripts and felt they weren't suitable, she rejected them all.
After chatting with Third Sister-in-law Huang for a while longer, Chen Meilan checked her watch and saw that an hour had passed. She figured Xiong Dapao must have left by now, so she bid farewell to Third Sister-in-law Huang and left her house.
However, as soon as she came out, she saw Yuanyuan standing alone in front of her champagne-colored car.
Xiong Dapao's black car was parked next to hers, indicating he hadn't left yet.
Just as Chen Meilan was about to return to Third Sister-in-law Huang's house, she suddenly heard a woman's voice: "Yan Shengnan, do you really like this car?"
Yuanyuan, leaning against the car's hood, replied sweetly, "Yes, it's the most beautiful, most gorgeous car in the world, and it's my mommy's car."
Following the voice, Chen Meilan walked over and saw a woman crouching under their large peony tree, resting her chin on her hand while looking up at Yuanyuan with a smile.
The woman had narrow eyes, and when she smiled, her face appeared both gentle and alluring.
She wore a navy-blue suit covered by a cream-colored wool coat.
At first glance, Chen Meilan couldn't help but admire how few women could dress with such good taste - neither flashy nor trendy, yet elegant.
Chen Meilan felt the woman looked familiar, but couldn't immediately place where she had seen her before.
As Chen Meilan approached, the woman continued, "Your mother's car is indeed beautiful, but it's not the most beautiful or best-looking in the world. Have you heard of BMW, Mercedes, and Ferrari? Those cars are more beautiful and more comfortable than this one."
"Impossible," Yuanyuan said, "This is the most beautiful car in the world."
"I've just returned from abroad, and I can assure you this isn't the most beautiful car in the world," the woman said, then added, "But for a little girl, it's already impressive that you helped your mother earn such a beautiful car. You earned the money to help your mother buy this car, right?"
Having just heard Chen Meilan's explanation about the car being a reward from Factory 271, Yuanyuan immediately corrected the woman: "I didn't earn this car. My mother got it as a reward because she did her job well, and her workplace leaders gave it to her."
The woman's mouth formed an O in surprise: "Really? You starred in a TV series that became famous across the country, and you haven't earned enough for a car? Could you tell auntie how much you earned from filming 'Return to the City'?"
Yuanyuan knew this answer and proudly held up five fingers, saying, "Five hundred yuan."
The woman stood up, sighed, and said with regret, "You only earned five hundred yuan for such a big TV series?" After a pause, she added, "If this were in Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, you would have earned at least enough for a car."
Given the huge income gap between mainland China and these regions at the time, and since Yuanyuan was just a child with no concept of money, she simply smiled.
"You don't believe me?" the woman asked.
Yuanyuan turned around, saw Chen Meilan, and immediately ran into her arms, hugging her.
The woman also noticed Chen Meilan and walked over, pulling out a business card with one hand while extending the other: "You must be Manager Chen from Factory 271. Pleased to meet you, I'm Yu Xiaoqiao."
"Hello," Chen Meilan said, accepting the woman's business card.
It was a color-printed business card perfumed with a light floral scent.
"I've seen 'Return to the City' where Yan Shengnan performed. I just heard she only earned five hundred yuan for the entire series - that's far too little. Manager Chen, I'd like to invite your Yan Shengnan to be my spokesperson. She'd just need to film a few commercials, and I'll pay her three thousand yuan. What do you think?" the woman said.
Yu Xiaoqiao - this name was very familiar to Chen Meilan.
She was someone Chen Meilan had known in her previous life.
Three thousand yuan for advertising was quite tempting at that time.
Chen Meilan looked at the business card and asked Yu Xiaoqiao, "You're the general manager of the Five Yuan Milk Powder Factory?"
"Yes, Five Yuan Milk Powder Factory used to be state-owned, but I've taken it over now. I'm the general manager," she replied with a smile.
Just then, Xiong Dapao and Yan Zhao came out from the courtyard.
When Xiong Dapao saw Chen Meilan and Yu Xiaoqiao together, he rubbed his hands and said, "I see you've already met Xiaoqiao, sister-in-law. Let me introduce her properly anyway - this is my girlfriend, Yu Xiaoqiao. What do you think of her?"
Proud and pleased, Xiong Dapao was clearly very satisfied with his new girlfriend.
Yu Xiaoqiao was indeed someone Chen Meilan knew.
However, she knew her from her previous life.
In the future, like Qin Yu, Yu Xiaoqiao would become a renowned female entrepreneur in West Ping City.
But unlike Qin Yu, who built her success through her own hard work and struggle, Chen Meilan had received beauty treatments at Yu Xiaoqiao's beauty salon in her previous life and had some casual interactions with her, so she understood this woman.
Unlike Qin Yu, who despite being a strong woman had an impeccable private life and would grow old with Yan Dawei in a loving marriage despite occasional quarrels, Yu Xiaoqiao was different.
In fact, in her previous life, according to Yu Xiaoqiao's own admission, she had at least five or six lovers from business, political, and military circles, all of whom were powerful and influential.
She was now 28, just a year younger than Chen Meilan.
Currently, she should have just returned from working abroad and only owned a milk powder factory.
But in the future, she would open beauty salons, KTVs, nightclubs, and eventually get into real estate development.
However, this had little to do with her own abilities.
When Chen Meilan met her in her previous life, about twenty years later, this woman had already become a famous female entrepreneur in the city.
But when drunk, in her own words, she wasn't particularly remarkable herself - what was powerful were the political and military bigwigs behind her. She was merely their money-making front.
How had such a formidable woman with such connections suddenly become Xiong Dapao's girlfriend?
Perhaps in her previous life, she had also dated Xiong Dapao, but when things fell apart, she gradually developed into the mistress and front for military and political leaders?
While Chen Meilan was pondering this, Yu Xiaoqiao opened her leather bag again and took out a contract, handing it to Chen Meilan saying, "Sister Meilan, I'm planning to take over Factory 291. The money is ready, but some leaders in the capital are holding things up and won't approve my factory acquisition. Could you look at this 'Lease Contract' and see if there's any problem with it?"
At the mention of 291, Chen Meilan felt even more suspicious.
There were only two military clothing factories in the country, both under the Army General District's management.
Factory 271 was smaller, and she and Cui Min had acquired it.
Factory 291, located in Henan, was the country's largest military clothing factory.
At this moment, Chen Meilan finally connected this woman with her experiences from her previous life.
The profitability of Factory 271 had shown certain military personnel the potential for sweet profits, and Yu Xiaoqiao, as their representative, was trying to acquire Factory 291.
Likely, Yan Peiheng in the capital was blocking this matter tightly, and those people couldn't acquire the factory. That's why they had Yu Xiaoqiao approach her through Xiong Dapao, hoping to acquire Factory 291 through her influence.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand these matters," Chen Meilan said as she started to enter the courtyard.
Yu Xiaoqiao's expression turned awkward, but she didn't say anything, just sighed softly with a drawn-out "Ah..."
Xiong Dapao, being face-conscious, especially since Yu Xiaoqiao was his fiancée, became angry when he saw Chen Meilan's cold rejection: "Sister-in-law, Xiaoqiao wants to acquire Factory 291, and I'll be a shareholder too. What, you're not happy about us taking over 291?"
Yu Xiaoqiao tugged at Xiong Dapao's arm: "Dapao, don't be angry. Sister Meilan didn't mean it that way."
"What does she mean? I nearly drank myself into a stomach ulcer to help East Fashion go public, so why can't she help you?" Xiong Dapao's face turned alternately red and white with anger.
Yu Xiaoqiao called out softly, "Sister-in-law..."
Women who could be mistresses to men in political, business, and military circles certainly had their capabilities.
They didn't need to do much. For instance, at this moment, Yu Xiaoqiao didn't say anything else - she just needed to call out "sister-in-law," and it was enough to make Xiong Dapao's head steam with anger.
But Chen Meilan ignored him and Yu Xiaoqiao, turning to enter the courtyard.
Xiong Dapao then turned to Yan Zhao: "Colonel, I've helped sister-in-law tremendously before. What's wrong with her helping Xiaoqiao a little?"
Yan Zhao, who was already seeing his guests out, opened the car door for Xiong Dapao: "It's not that your sister-in-law is unwilling. She said she doesn't understand."
"If she doesn't understand, how did she manage to get Factory 271?" Xiong Dapao countered.
Yan Zhao hadn't expected this retort from Xiong Dapao and stared at him coldly without speaking.
Xiong Dapao suddenly patted his briefcase and spread his hands, saying: "Colonel, I didn't know before, but recently, I heard that sister-in-law got Factory 271 purely through connections, purely because your father is the Second Commander of the Military Region."
Yan Zhao must have been irritated, but he remained silent, coldly staring at Xiong Dapao, waiting to see what else would come out of his dog's mouth.
Xiong Dapao patted his bulging briefcase again and said: "It's all about greasing palms and using connections, isn't it? You have the connections, and I'm willing to pay. Colonel, we once fought together on the battlefield, risking our lives for our country, but this is how the country works - everything depends on connections, money, and networks. Speaking of money, I have it, and you have the connections. I once saved your life, so why can't I use your connections?"
Yan Zhao, not wanting to continue the conversation with Xiong Dapao, patted the car door and said in a low voice: "Get out!"
Xiong Dapao was about to push Yan Zhao into the car when he turned and saw Chen Meilan standing in the courtyard. He let out a cold laugh and said loudly: "Sister-in-law, cats have their ways, and crabs have theirs. If you won't help us, we'll find someone else who will. But remember this - without me, your Factory 271's products won't sell anymore."
At this, Yan Zhao directly pushed him into the car, then turned to Yu Xiaoqiao: "Aren't you getting in?"
Yu Xiaoqiao, still holding the contract in her hands, glanced at Yan Zhao and hurriedly opened the passenger door and got in.
Xiong Dapao hadn't become West Ping City's richest man by being simple.
Though his features were regular and his skin fair, giving him an appearance of honesty, there was more to him than that.
He must have just started dating Yu Xiaoqiao, and bringing her today was to seek Chen Meilan's help. Not only had Chen Meilan flatly refused, but she had also been so cold - this meant she wasn't giving face to Xiong Dapao.
For a man, nothing matters more than losing face in front of the woman he loves.
Xiong Dapao stepped on the gas, and the black Crown roared forward, nearly crashing into Chen Meilan's new car.
However, at the last moment, he swerved, turning the car around.
His provocation not only angered Yan Zhao but also Chen Meilan - it was her new car, just brought home today, and what if Xiong Dapao had turned it into a pile of scrap metal?
So when Xiong Dapao turned around, Chen Meilan rushed out of the house.
As she came out, Xiong Dapao had just stopped the car, nearly running over her foot.
After braking suddenly, Xiong Dapao slowly rolled down the window and called out again: "Sister-in-law?"
...
Chen Meilan and Yan Zhao watched as Xiong Dapao raised his fist and suddenly slammed it onto the horn, making it wail continuously. With the horn still blaring, he floored the gas pedal and drove away.
The prolonged horn blast startled all the children in the village, who came running out of their houses like startled birds and animals.
Yan Zhao probably hadn't expected that his former soldier would not only become so stubborn but would also speak to Chen Meilan this way. He turned and asked: "Should I have him brought back?"
"What for?" Chen Meilan asked in return.
"He used to be quite normal. How did he suddenly become..." Yan Zhao paused, leaving his sentence unfinished.
This Yu Xiaoqiao had only returned from abroad in February this year.
She had been dating Xiong Dapao for barely a month.
Today was the first time Xiong Dapao had brought her to meet the Yan couple, and just moments ago, Yan Zhao had a fairly good impression of Yu Xiaoqiao.
But Xiong Dapao had always been very upright, building his business through hard work and sweat. How had he suddenly learned to play the connection game and try to bribe people?
And he even tried to bribe the Yan couple, thinking he could acquire Factory 291 this way?
Yan Zhao realized that his former comrade, with whom he once fought back-to-back on the battlefield, had suddenly changed after getting a girlfriend!
This puzzled him greatly.
"It's fine, let's go back inside," Chen Meilan said, seeing Yan Zhao's dark expression. "They're just dating, not married. After spending some time together, maybe Xiong Dapao will realize they're not compatible and break up?"
Xiong Dapao definitely needed to remarry, but it couldn't be with Yu Xiaoqiao.
Aliali: 673ee164c4f3f33ac4f0ba09Because clearly, she wasn't just Xiong Dapao's girlfriend - she was currently likely already a mistress to certain military bigwigs.
It would be troublesome if Xiong Dapao angered certain people by being with Yu Xiaoqiao and ended up being quietly eliminated.
Chen Meilan needed to find a way to make Xiong Dapao recognize Yu Xiaoqiao's true character. Once he realized what kind of person she was, he would surely break up with her.
"Break up?" Yan Zhao suddenly put his hands on his hips and said: "Dapao said they're planning to get their marriage certificate next month."
Now it was Chen Meilan's turn to worry.
In her previous life, Yu Xiaoqiao had been not only wealthy but also famous.
Especially her five-yuan milk powder factory, which had once been a domestic industry leader.
However, this woman had been arrested by the police just before Chen Meilan's death.
The reason was that her five-yuan milk powder factory had produced milk powder that had affected at least two hundred newborns in Shaanxi Province alone, according to records. These babies had developed abnormally, with delayed physical development but disproportionately large heads.
So now, had she already started producing toxic milk powder containing melamine?
